


Of You and Me

by SuckerForBooks



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, F/M, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hufflepuff, Minor Character Death, Mystery, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28318596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuckerForBooks/pseuds/SuckerForBooks
Summary: Behold the Return of the Scourers!The Scourers were a group of rough wizarding mercenaries who roamed across the United States in the 17th century. Originally, formed as a vigilante group and bounty-hunting service due to the lack of wizarding governments and law enforcement, this group soon turned increasingly corrupt and brutal.The Scourers were believed to be extinct, but suddenly open incidents and attacks by them happen and I find mysef in the middle of it all with James Sirius Potter next to me.  Trying to make sense of their motivation, while fighting against the time.Can we actually stop them or are we merly puppets of their games?
Relationships: James Sirius Potter/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 3





	1. Of Field Hockey and Running

Slowly dawn is beginning to creep up on the horizon. The sun is slowly raising and taints the roofs of the village in a glowing light. I watch the sleepy town wistfully as I am running down the hill towards a beige house on the outskirts of the village. I hadn’t really felt truly at home here ever, but the prospects of going back to my school do not seem very welcoming. At least here I can pretend nothing happened; I can pretend I am normal. 

I will my thoughts to a stop as I arrive at the house and fall into my monotonous routine. I stretch a little outside and then go inside and start to prepare breakfast. It is only half past eight and I probably must wait at least half an hour before anybody else will be up. I scramble up eggs, roast sausages, set the table, squeeze oranges for juice. As I am washing the pan I had used to cook, my cousin emerges from her bedroom. “Morning Mischa”, she says and kisses my cheek, “Oh it looks delicious! Thank you so much! How was your run?” I reply “No problem, Sam! It was good. I just caught the sunrise and the town looked beautiful!” “You and your fascination for sunsets and sunrises”, she chuckles, “I go and wake up the girls, so we can have breakfast” I nod at her, while I dry the pan. 

While put it away, Dan emerges from the bedroom. “Morning Mischa! Oh, I am so hungry!” he says, while his stomach rumbles. I laugh: “Well Sam, is already getting the girls, so you don’t have to wait long” As if they heard what I said, two blondes and a brunette come dashing down the stairs, run towards Dan, tackle him, while screaming: “Good morning Daddy!” He chuckles: “Hey, why so excited?” But the girls do not pay attention to anything he says and instead jump up and hug me: “Good morning Mischa!” I laugh at them: “Good morning, girls!” “Uhh, you smell!”, exclaims the smallest one. “Well, I have already been running this morning. But come on and sit down at the table, then we can have some breakfast!”, I urge the three girls to sit down. At the same time Sam comes down the stairs, carrying another girl and smiles: “Yes, listen to Mischa!” I worriedly look at the girl in her arm: “Is Andi alright?” “Oh yes, she just had a bad dream and wanted to cuddle a bit, right my lovely girl?” Sam answers and looks at Andi. The 4-year old looks quickly up, gives a small smile and then hides her face in her mother’s shoulder again. 

We all sit down, and everybody helps themselves to some breakfast. “I will miss you so much, when you leave for Hogwarts”, whines the tallest of the girls. “Oh Amilia, you will barely notice it! You will be so busy with school and your muggle friends and before you even know, the year is over, and you will head to Hogwarts with me!” I respond and smile at her. “But who will teach me quidditch, when you are gone?”, pipes up another voice. “Amy, your dad thought you, while I was at Hogwarts last year, and he will do it again” I reassure her, while giving her a side hug, “and I will be home for Christmas and then you can show me, what you have learned and I will teach you something new!” “Good!”, Amy says and smiles, “You’re a way better teacher than Dad!” At that statement Dan chokes on his juice and exclaims in mock hurt:” Excuse me little Miss! I believe I was the one, who thought you, how to ride a broom!” Everybody laughs at that. After everyone calmed down, Sam speaks up: “So you know Aria is selling cookies with her class at the hockey game this afternoon, and I expect us all to go! Mischa? You also get a chance to see some of your muggle friends again” Aria smiles gleefully up at me. My mind is reeling. I am not to keen on going, but it is kind of a family thing and I am expected to go, and I know the girls want to spend every hour with me before I leave. However, the prospect of seeing my former muggle friends does not sound appealing. I push my doubts out of my mind, smile at Aria and ruffle her hair: “Of course I will be there. I wouldn’t want to miss you selling cookies for anything!” Her smile brightens at my statement only more and Sam smiles at me approvingly. 

After breakfast, I put away the dishes, shower and throw on some clothes. We will head out at one, with a glance at the clock I realize I still have three hours to spare. I look through my post. There are three letters from Georgie, Ana and Terry, I read quickly through them, but decide not to answer them. I will see them on the Hogwarts express anyway in two days and can tell them everything in person which I prefer. My eyes fall on the newspaper. I haven’t read the Prophet today. I grab the paper and plop down on my bed and stare at the front page: 

_**New Discoveries about the Escape of Nathaniel Rashad**  
The Department for Magical Law Enforcement confirmed today, that the message, which was left in the cell of former Auror Nathaniel Rashad, who was awaiting his sentencing after the Garth-incident, has been solved. However, this discovery will not help us catch sleep at night. Harry Potter, Head of the Magical Law Enforcement stated: “The message was written in Cyrillic letters and therefore gave us a hard time to unravel. After we consulted the Croatian Department for Magical Law Enforcement, we received a translation, unfortunately the message did not make much sense as the text was written in Latin. After contacting further language experts, we could finally discover the meaning of this riddle”  
The message that was left reads: Behold the Return of the Scourers. This leaves many people at a shock. The Scourers were a group of rough wizarding mercenaries who roamed across the United States in the 17th century. Originally, formed as a vigilante group and bounty-hunting service due to the lack of wizarding governments and law enforcement, this group soon turned increasingly corrupt and brutal. The Scourers went on to not only torture and murder wizards as well as muggles without any proof of their guilt, they also engaged in wizard-trafficking and cooperated with the witch-hunting Puritans carrying out their personal vendettas at the Salem Witch Trails. This band of vigilante executioners was thought to have dissolved after the Magical Congress of the United States of America was founded and had rounded up and prosecuted them. Even though some evaded the law, it was believed that they had integrated into Muggle society, married Muggles and abandoned their children, if they had traces of magic. However, they still managed to instill an abiding conviction in their heirs that magic exists and poses a threat and therefore wizard kin ought to be wiped out.  
Apparently, our beliefs were wrong as Nathaniel Rashad seems to belong to the Scourers and we suggest, that there may be more of them out there. Harry Potter responded to this worry: “Right now we do not have enough information to confirm these speculations. But I assure you we will lock into this incident at every angle and will discover the meaning of this message! Meanwhile, if anybody run across other messages like this or witnesses anything, please contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement” The Daily Prophet will of course continue to report every new discovery about the Scourers._

I drop the page and try to calm my heavy breathing. I can tell you exactly, what the message means. It means just what they have written. The Scourers have never left, but they are on the rise to return and are trying to establish their former glory. I think back to my brother’s visit at the beginning of the summer. Should I contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement? But I hardly had anything concrete and what will happen to my brother? I mean he had done terrible things, but do I really want to see him in Azkaban? Does he even regret, what he has done? But if I turn him in now, I will never get any answers to the many questions I have? Would I ask him them, when I saw him? Do I want to see him?

Suddenly the door to my room is opened and disrupts my unending train of thoughts. Amy rushes over to me and sits on my lap. I quickly discard the paper on my desk, I do not want her to read anything about that. I smile at her: “Hmm, what do you want my little Amykins?” “Can you braid my hair?”, she looks at me with doe eyes. I laugh at her: “Sure, but let’s go downstairs into the kitchen. I have more space there” She nods gleefully and races down the stairs. I chuckle and follow her. I braid her blonde her and all her other sisters’ hair as they were getting jealous of her. Before I know it, one o’clock has approached, and we ready ourselves to head out. I take Amilia’s hand and we head towards the field hockey stadium in the middle of the town. It is only a fifteen-minute walk. As we approach the stadium, I can feel the air buzzing with excitement, the whole town has come to see the game. You can not compare it to the excitement before a Quidditch game at Hogwarts, but I thought it was amazing how alike muggle and wizards can be, when it comes to their favorite sports.

As we pass the entrance, I hear somebody call my name: “Mischa! Hey yo, Mischa! Wait up!” I turn searching for the owner of the voice. Suddenly a tall blonde girl crushes me in a hug. As she releases me, Sam waves me, that they will go ahead, and I can catch up with them later. “Hey Laurie”, I smile at the girl, “How is hockey going? It looks pretty successful!” I glance down at her uniform. “Yeah, it is”, she says smiling brightly and lunches into telling me everything new, “well I will start college soon to get my A-levels and as you can see, I already got into their hockey team. It is amazing! You can’t believe it! Everybody is so nice, and we are a real team. We spend time together; have team bonding and we tell each other everything. I even got tips for my first day and who are good teachers and which extracurriculars to take and so on! But enough about me! I hardly see you anymore! I miss you!” I look guiltily at her: “Well, you know I am at this boarding school and there are very strict about technology. We are not allowed to have cell phones and that makes it really hard to contact people” I feel a little bad about lying to Laurie as she is such a good and nice person, but I can hardly tell her the truth. “I already know that! But you were here for the summer! You could have popped by at my house and we could have hung out and spend some time!”, she says exasperated. “I know. I am sorry. I will be home for Christmas again. We can meet up then, if you have some time to spare for me”, I try to console her. “I will always have time for you! But I must go now and get ready for the game! Maybe we can meet afterwards”, she says smiling, while I nod at her. Then she hugs me and runs towards the field with a spring in her step.

Why do I deserve such an amazing girl like her? I start to make my way towards the stands looking for Sam, Dan and the girls to sit with them, while I think back to my childhood memories with Laurie. She had made it hard to leave for Hogwarts, when I was elven. I had been so heartbroken about not being able to go the same school with her. Well, how times have changed, as I am now afraid to talk to my former best friend. I spot my family and sit with them, as the game starts, and the teams run onto the field. I watch Laurie’s happy smile as she gets ready for the game and takes her position with her teammates. I feel like there is not a place for me in her life anymore.


	2. Of Smalltalk and Fireworks

The platform is busing with excitement. The steam of the Hogwarts Express is slowly collecting under the roof of the station. The train is glistening in the sun and everything looks like one is looking through golden glasses. Sometimes I wish I could freeze moments like this. Seeing everybody happy, watching parents hug their kids goodbye, while they can hardly wait to get on the train and leave for Hogwarts, looking at the scared first years who will be away from home for the first time.

“Mischa! Mischa! Mischa!”, interrupts a voice my thoughts. Then three heads pop up in the crowd and I am caged in four-way hug. “Hey, I missed you, too! But you guys know that I actually need air to breath!”, I try to wiggle free from their grasp. “You can survive a little without!”, answers the small black-haired girl, while she hugs me tighter and tells me accusingly, “I missed you and you did not answer my last letter” I sigh: “Well Ana, I only got it two days ago and I figured I could tell you everything in person today. I like talking to you way more than writing to you!” She seems satisfied at that and finally releases me.

Sam and Dan show up behind me and quickly greet my friends. “I will see you on the train!”, Ana says and jumps toward a group of boys and strikes up a conversation with them. We all look smilingly at her. “Georgie and I will go an get a compartment for us. Will you join us?”, asks the boy with light brown hair. “Sure Terry, I will join after I finish saying goodbye! But I am afraid, I can’t spend much time with you. I have to go to the prefects’ meeting and then probably patrol the train.”, his head slowly drops as I continue talking, “But we will have enough time to catch up!” At this his head jerks up and he smiles happily at me. “Great! See you in a bit”, he says and as he leads the blonde girl with him who smiles at me and mouths “See you”.

I turn to face my family. I hug my cousin and her husband. Amilia looks sadly at me, as I hug her. “Hey, you will join me next year”, I try to console her. She just hugs me tighter before she releases me and grabs the hand of her dad. “Bye bye Amy”, I say while hugging the next girl, “and don’t forget you promised me to practice Quidditch with you dad!” I hold out my pinkie to her and she takes it and answers with a little smile: “I will, pinkie promise!” She leaves my side and hugs Sam’s leg. I turn to the third girl as she starts to cry: “Aria! Aria! Don’t cry! I will be back before you know.” “But it is so long till Christmas!”, she cries into me. “But I will write you often and you will have so much fun with your first year at school that the time will fly by!”, I try to stop her to cry. She hugs me tight and then runs towards Dan and buries her head in his stomach. I look at her sadly. Lastly I hug the smallest girl: “Bye Andi! I will see you soon” She smiles at me: “Bye Mischa!” Then she returns to her mother and grabs her hand. I grab my trunk and wave at them and board the train.

Luckily, I do not have to walk far, till I find the compartment Georgie, Terry and Ana had occupied. I slide the door open, put my trunk on the rack above our heads and plop down on the seat. “So, Ana, you hinted at something in your letter! Tell me everything!”, I try to start our usual conversations. “Well”, she says while blushing, “I ran into Malik Hadwin the first week of break as I was getting some ice cream in Diagon Alley. And then, well he offered to buy me some and we talked for about an hour, before my family came and dragged me to some boring dinner with a bunch of ministry officials.” We all lean forward and look at her expectantly. “Well, a day later I got the first letter from him and we have been writing each other letters back and forth the whole summer”, she continues with a huge smile and a blush on her face, while sinking down in her seat. “And?”, Georgie leans more forward and begs at her to continue. “What and?”, Ana looks at her confused. “Anastasia Lynch tell us if you are dating that guy or if you will go on a date with him!”, Terry shouts as he throws up his hands in exasperation. “Well, I don’t know. I don’t think we are dating. But he hinted, that he would like to go to Hogsmeade with me in one of his letters.”, she says with an unsure expression on her face. “I am sure, he wants to go out with you, Ana. Don’t worry! I think he was only waiting for school to start to do more with you!”, I say smiling at her and lay my hand on her knee giving it a little reassuring squeeze, “And you guys don’t pressure her! Let them take their time!” Ana looks relieved at me, while Terry and Georgie grumble their consent. “Well, I better head towards the prefects’ meeting. I see you later!”, I wave them goodbye as I make my way out of the compartment towards the front of the train.

I arrive changed into me uniform with a couple minutes to spare, however almost everyone is already there. Well, no wonder we are all prefects as none of us actually would dare to ever come late. I see a boy with chestnut brown hair waving at me and pointing at the seat next to him. I plop down beside him and smile at him: “Thanks Kev for saving me a seat!” He grins at me: “Well, I wouldn’t want my favorite homework buddy and the reason I actually passed my Potions OWL to sit in the back!” “Ohh, how selfless of you!”, I reply sarcastically with a smile tugging at the corner of my lips to show I am messing a little bit with him. “After all, you are my favorite Prefect”, he says jokingly while batting his eyes at me. “Don’t you think you are a little bit biased! I mean calling the other Prefect from your own house in your year your favorite!”, I state while pushing away his face. “Well, us Puffs we need to stick together!”, he exclaimed smilingly and throws his arm around my shoulder tugging me closer to him. I laugh at him, while trying to free myself from his grip.

He drops his arm as the head boy steps in front of us and tries to get everybody’s attention: “Well, I will try to make it quick! First, we are going to introduce us. If anything is ever wrong, you can always come to us. I am Raiden Gotama and ...” “I am Ani Tarben”, interrupted him the girl next to him. He quickly looks at her and then continues as she is fidgeting with her green sliver ty. “Well, that is settled. Secondly, two of you have to do the first round of patrols today on the train. We figured Mischa Fleur and Edgar Niccolo would start and Ani and I will do the second round”, he said while nodding at us both. “Sure”, I answer for both of us. Raiden had already informed me that he planned on us to cover this patrol and we both had not minded it and had agreed. “Great!”, he exclaims and continues with the meeting. He pairs us up for the rounds, well this part is only new for the fifth years as everyone else keeps his or her partner, sets up the schedule for the first week, talks us through our responsibilities and the procedure about switching rounds and duties. “Any questions?”, he looks expectantly at us, but nobody raises their hand, “well then you can all head back! We will see you for your rounds!”

Everybody slowly files out of the compartment and makes their way back to their friends. I wave a goodbye at Kevin and wait for Edgar to join me to talk through how we would patrol the train. Raiden steps up to me and looks shyly at me: “How did I do?” “Well not bad, but you could have let Ani talk a little bit as well”, I say matter-of-factly, but stop when I see his face slowly turn pale, “Hey, but it was fine! You will be a great Head Boy. I could not imagine anyone else.” I squeeze his hand reassuringly and smile at him. He looks at me grateful: “Thanks Mischa, I have a feeling you are the only one believing that!” “As long as you believe in yourself, it doesn’t matter what others think!”, I say while hugging him. “Hey Mischa, sorry to interrupt, but we should start patrolling”, Edgar says behind us. “Sure, off you go! We will take over for you in two hours!”, Raiden says while he unbends himself and lets go of me. I smile at him, while Edgar and I leave the compartment. “So, Eddie, you wanna do the front half of the train and I’ll do the back half?”, I ask him. “Sounds good to me!”, he says, “See you later then!” I wave at him as I make my way towards the back half of the train.

While I patrol the train, various people greet me: “Hey Mischa?”, “How have you been?”, “How was your break?”. I would answer something along the line like “Good. But I am happy to get back to Hogwarts! What about you?”. Mostly, everyone just tries to be polite. I doubt anybody actually listens to my answers. I could probably tell them, that my little niece transfigured a pillow into a dragon, and most wouldn’t even question what I just had said. Well, but I guess that’s how small talk works, no one really listens what the other one responds, but would be offended if they had not been asked.

Suddenly, the door of a compartment behind me opens and to two blonde boys drop on their knees and rock forward towards me feet, while exclaiming “O Captain! My Captain![1]” “Oh stop it, you idiots! And get up from the floor!” Both smirk up at me and simultaneously get up to place a kiss on my glasses: “But for real, congrats on making Capt’n, Sha” “Uhh, now I can’t see anything!”, I shout trying to sound angry. However, all three of us start to laugh loudly. I take off my glasses and fetch a cloth from a pocket of my robe to clean them. As I put them back on, I smile at them: “Ahh better! So, I guess I’ll see you at tryouts?” They look at me with mock shock and the right one says, while throwing his arm above my shoulder: “Sha, would you really give up your favorite beating partner? I am hurt! I thought we had a bond! And you just throw everything out the window!” The left one also throws his arm above my shoulder and adds: “And you would also give up your best chaser! And I was the one who fought for you being on the team in your first year! Is that how you repay me?” I shrug of their arms: “Sammy, you are an exceptional beater and Benny, you are an awesome chaser! And I love to have you both on my team as we are great friends! But you know, that as Captain I have to give everyone an equal treatment and if somebody is better than you, which seems not very likely by the way, but could be possible, then they would get the spot!” “We know, Sha! Just messing a little with our Capt’n. We know you will do what’s best for the team!”, they say and smile at me. “See you wankers later!”, I laugh at them as I make my way further down the train.

I glance at my watch and realizes that I only have thirty minutes left before my round ends. I think about joining my friends soon, as I hear explosions in a compartment ahead and I watch four boys with wands drawn slamming the door shut and running down the hall. “Expelliarmus” I yell and catch the four wands flying my way. They look shocked at me for a moment, but soon afterwards run into a compartment. I tug the wands away into the inner pocket of my robe and approach the compartment where the explosion has happened. A little fire-breathing dragon escapes the compartment. I am about to point my wand at it and cast Evanesco, when I remember that these are probably Weasleys’ Wildfire Whiz-bangs and they would only multiply by ten when the spell hits them. I shout: “Aqua Eructo” and direct the water stream at the fireworks hoping it would drown them. It helps a little as the fireworks seem to lessen, however they still keep going. I cast “Ebublio” trying to trap the individual rockets inside the bubbles.

Finally, when the fireworks die down as I extinguish them, I look at the damage in the compartment. Six Four-year students were sitting in the compartment drenched with water and black faces from the smoke of the Explosives. “I am sorry about that. Believe me, the culprits will be punished!”, I try to console them. A red-haired girl looks at me: “Well, I hope they get an appropriate punishment. I am drenched!” “I can use some drying spells on you, but I am afraid I can’t do much about the sod!”, I offer them. “To be dry would be pretty great to start”, a black-haired guy says as he wipes of the sod from his face and his silver green ty. I nod at them and perform some drying spells on them. Afterwards they leave to get the sod off, I decided to confront the four boys I saw running away.

I look for their compartment and open the door while hearing the last threads and laughter of their conversation: “Oh Lily’s face was priceless”, “Yeah and the git Leo looked like a pig, he was so scared!” Their laughter dies down as I enter the compartment. They look expectantly at me. “You wanna tell me why you did it?”, I ask them indifferently. They still stare at me. “Guess not! Well, as having Weasleys’ Wildfire Whiz-bangs, using them on others and using magic on the train is prohibited and against the rules …” “Wait, you figured out these were Weasleys’ Wildfire Whiz-bangs?”, asks one of the boys unbelievingly. “Of course, Weasley!”, I answer indifferently, as I am inwardly happy about having surprised them, “Well as I was just saying. That is against the rules and the four of you will serve detention the next following two weeks including the whole Saturdays and Sundays!” “What? But I wanted to hold Quidditch tryouts next Saturday!”, the raven-haired boy yells angrily at me. “Well, I guess you will have to schedule your tryouts in three weeks, Potter”, I answer calmly. “You all should learn that your actions have consequences!”, I add as I leave the compartment. “Wait Fleur! What about our wands?”, inquired Potter. “You can get them back from Professor Longbottom after the feast tonight!”, I answer coldly and make my way towards the front of the train to finish my patrol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Poem by Walt Whitman


	3. Of Hearts and Summer

The castle raises towards the sky in front of my eyes. The night sky has already fallen upon the countryside. The whole atmosphere looks gloomy. The warm lights of the castle give it an eerie glow. I sigh. Well here comes another year at Hogwarts. I have always been excited to be back. However, the events of this summer have dampened my mood and excitement. I look at the carriages and watch the thestrals pulling them. It still seems strange to me that the other students cannot see them and just plainly and willingly accept the fact that the carriages are pulled by nothing.

I spot Professor Longbottom at the front of the gate checking of the students that arrive with Professor Dawlish. I give up my spot in the queue to the entrance and walk towards Professor Longbottom. I hear some protests from the other students who think I am skipping the line, till they hear me say: “Prof. Longbottom, could I talk to you for a minute? It is about my prefect duties” He nods at me and we step a little to the side that none of the students can overhear our conversation. I know how gossip spreads across this school, and I do not want to fuel it tonight. After explaining the whole incident on the train, how I had reacted, what punishment I had seemed fit, I hand him the detention slips I had filled out for the four boys and their wands. “Thank you, Mischa! You definitely acted right, and the punishment is very appropriate! I will talk to the other Professors and the Head Boy and Head Girl to set up a schedule for their detentions. And they can get their wands back after the feast. How were your holidays?” I am relieved, that Professor Longbottom as their Head of House agrees with me: “Thank you! They were good, but I am happy to be back at Hogwarts!” “Well, I don’t want to keep you here any longer, so go up and enjoy the feast”, he says and smiles at me.

When I arrive at the gate again, there are only a couple students left and most of my friends have already gone up. But I catch a ride with some third year Hufflepuffs and strike up a conversation with them. “So, are you interested in quidditch?”, I ask them. Their smiles brighten and all of them agree and start talking about the quidditch cup last year and some also contribute their opinions on professional quidditch. I laugh at them: “Well, if you are all so ecstatic about quidditch, you should definitely try out for the Hufflepuff team!” They all look at me shocked and a girl pipes up: “But do we even have a chance to make it? I mean most of the quidditch players are fifth year and above and they all have played for several years” “Why would that stop you?”, I ask her, when she looks questioningly at me I continue, “Look, all players on a quidditch team started like you all. Just some kids interested in quidditch. Well, we are all still kids that love this game. But you never know what slumbers inside of you and you will never find out if you don’t try to awake it.” “You are the captain of the Hufflepuff team, aren’t you?”, asks one of the boys. “Yes, and I believe that everyone gets an equal shot to make the team. And if you are one of the best, you will make the team. I actually made the team in my first year, so everything is possible”, I tell them and smile at them. “Well, then we will definitely try out!”, says another girl with a determined expression on her face. I smile at them and really hope to see them all at tryouts.

I make my way down the great hall towards the middle of the Hufflepuff table where I see all my classmates sitting. I plop between Georgie and another girl. “Mischa! Where were you? I saw you when we were standing in line and the you suddenly disappeared. I just wanted to go to you and talk about summer and school”, says the girl next to me. “Sorry, Lia! I had to talk to Prof. Longbottom about an incident on the train” “Uhh, so you handed out the first detentions this year?”, Kevin leans over Lia and asks me laughingly. “Well, I guess so, but they deserved it!” “Who was it?”, askes my fourth roommate across from me. “Who do you guess it was, Kira?”, I ask her back disinterestedly. “You gave detention to Weasley and Potter?”, she exclaims unbelievingly. “Yes, and their other two friends”, I reply irritated. “But won’t they try to get revenge on you?”, Ana questions me. “Honestly, I like to see them try. I am not afraid of them. Besides I have other things to worry about than those four goons!”, I reply hoping to drop the subject.

Luckily, Headmistress McGonagall steps forward and captures everyone’s attention. After the first years are sorted and she has held her usual back to school speech, the feast begins, and the chatter starts up again. “Oh, stop talking about exams already, Lia! I barely passed my OWLs. I don’t wanna think about it now! Can’t we just enjoy life? We still have two years left. We should make them count!”, says one of the boys. “Well, Lin, if you actually started studying early, you probably would have less trouble passing exams”, answers Lia as Lin shoots her a growling glance and Georgie and the boy next to Lia slap her lightly. “Stop it, Lia! I agree with Lin, we should enjoy the time a little. There is still enough time to study!”, says the boy. “Fine, Connor! But I have warned you, if you all fail!”, she huffs annoyed. We all groan at that.

“Well, I have to tell you about my summer! My dad got tickets to the sports gala this summer. I met so many quidditch players and celebrities. I even had a talk with Ken Dali!”, says the blonde boy. “Oh, he is the best quidditch analyst there ever was!”, raves Connor and Lin agrees by nodding his head daydreamingly. “Stop bragging, Icarus”, Terry responds harried, “we know your dad has connections and you get to meet all sorts of important people! We know!” “Calm down, Terry”, Icarus replies while throwing up his hands defensively, “just wanted to talk about summer!”

“Sorry!”, he says with his head hanging down and rubbing his eyes, “I had a big argument with my parents the beginning of summer. Kind of dragged me down all summer!” “Oh, what happened? You haven’t said anything about that in your letters!”, I ask him concerned. “Didn’t want to write it down! I wanted to meet up with you, but my parents send me to stay with my aunt for most parts of the summer and I had to babysit her kids as she worked, while they were on a business trip. Well, I couldn’t leave her hanging. So, I didn’t really have the time to meet up!”, he answers sadly. I reach across the table and squeeze his hand, knowing that he would like to love his parents, but they rarely spend time with him and are always gone on business trips and only care about his grades. It is really frustrating for him. He looks up at me and gives me a small smile his eyes showing the appreciation that I understand what he feels and will not lecture him about how he should be grateful for his parents as they provided him with everything he needs and buy him everything he asks for.

“But, let’s talk about more interesting things”, he tries to change the topic and he drops his voice and wiggles his eyebrowns, “I heard something about you, Lia, and a certain someone!” I jump onto the topic and say in a singsong voice: _“Well, well, I heard; You’ve got a special someone on the side, Danh; What are you tryin’ to hide, Danh?”[1]_ Everybody starts laughing, while Lia goes deep red. “Well, you know Simón Vidar? The seventh year Ravenclaw?”, she asks still blushing furiously. “Oh yes! He is fit!”, exclaims Georgie. “And quite popular!”, adds Kira. “And really smart!”, says Lia daydreamingly. “He seems like quite a good catch”, states Terry. “Never caught him snogging in a broom closet. Yet!”, Kevin replies jokingly. Lia groans and leans over the table to slap his arm. He laughingly accepts it. “So, spill the beans!”, Ana urges Lia. “Okay okay!”, she makes gestures to symbol us to calm down, “You know I spend the summer at this camp as a counselor, don’t you?” “Of course, you couldn’t shut up about it the last month of school”, Kevin replies while we all nod. “Well, Simón was there, too. He was also a counselor and …” “Aww!”, exclaimed Kira. “Don’t interrupt her! I wanna hear the whole story”, Ana scolds her. We all look expectantly at Lia: “Well, one week we had to clean up the cabins the kids had used together, and we just started talking and I don’t know. Suddenly, I am kissing, well not really kissing him, more like snogging him!” Kira, Georgie and Terry squeal. “And? What is now between you two?”, I ask Lia. She sighs: “I honestly don’t know. He is a great kisser and I wanna see him again. But, I don’t wanna be just the girl he snogs.” “I would be totally fine with that!”, Georgie throws in. “Well, we want to meet up tonight. So, I will know more afterwards”, Lia continues. “And you know you have to tell us everything then tonight!”, I smirk and wiggle my eyebrows at her. She groans but agrees. 

__

__

“Any juicy news about your life, Mischa?” Lin asks me. Should I tell them everything about my summer, my brother’s visit, what he told me, what is happening now? They are my best friends. I can trust them. But I do not want to put them through that. I do not want to ruin their happiness. “You know my boring life, Lin. I don’t get to meet pretty boys when I go to get ice cream neither do I just fall over them and start snogging them”, I say jokingly with a smile playing on my lips, “I basically watched after my nieces and worked out and drew up some quidditch strategies to win the cup, all summer” Ana leans forward trying to probe me more about boys, but before she can speak, Connor starts: “Yeah! We are so proud of you making captain. I think we have a pretty good chance to win the House Cup this year!” “But Gryffindor will be hard to beat. They have the Potters, Weasleys and Wood after all”, Icarus states. “Yeah, but they don’t have our Mischa!”, Georgie interjects and throws her arms around me. I genuinely smile at her.

Another conversation starts up, but my thoughts drift away from the topic. They drift back to my brother’s visit. Images of him appear in front of my inner eye. I see him standing in front of the door, after not having seem him for about five years. He hugs me and I feel like a part of me has finally returned home. I felt ecstatic and happy. Little had I known that this feeling would pass very soon, and he would take my heart and shatter it and turn it into little shreds that would piece me from the inside. I remember the last words he has spoken to me before he had left again: “I hope you will understand, why I did it! Someday, at least!” I will never be able to understand why my brother had done this! How can my brother be so cruel?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] “Story of Tonight (Reprise)”- Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda


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